[Deck] Dragon Stompy

[Tacosnape]

On a purely random note, has anyone tried Browbeat in place of the Cyclops? LOL.

You should have children, male ones, so I can punch them in the testicles everytime they have a birthday for suggesting this.

Two points about Browbeat. Take notes, world.

Point #1. There is no deck in existence, in any format, nor will there ever be one, where Browbeat (or any card that gives the opponent the final choice) is optimal anywhere in the span of a 75 card maindeck/sideboard.

Point #2. If there was such a deck, there's no way in hell it's this one.

As for Slogger, I'm running 1. I got talked into it by having too many triple Razormane draws. Props to whoever suggested it. But one and no more. I don't think I like less than 4 Kavus, so I cut back to 3 Razormanes and added one Slogger. The lone Slogger here would sort of be in for the same reason Red Death has that single Wretched Anurid. Sometimes 4 of a drawback creature is just a little too much.

Note that if you only draw one, Razormane >>> Slogger almost constantly, the exception being if your opponent's holding, say, Disenchant. Razormane will win more battles for you by randomly picking off Silver Knight than he will lose to Disenchant, though.

I'm amused how nobody realizes just how good Cyclops is. You have to play the deck a good while to realize it. He's way better than anything with the same cost that could go in his slot, and Hulking Ogre will never replace him, as Hulking Ogre isn't even the best choice to do so.

[smeagol]

Nice deck idea.

Some more ideas for the debated Cyclops slot:

- Barbarian Bully (very suboptimal, but with multiple Squees... might at least be worth a try...)
- Brassclaw Orcs (meh... but the Orc has 3 power and can block that random Lackey)
- Defender of Chaos (has at least Protection from Plowshares)
- Dwarven Vigilantes (nice vs. Dark Confidants, Meddling Mages and company, the opponent is forced to block with them and trade 1 on 1 or just get their dudes killed by the dwarves - drawback: only 2/2, but the ability seems really nice in theory)
- Fire Imp (small Flametongue Kavu, 2 damage won't kill any Werebears though. Probably a stinker ouside of the Goblin Matchup)
- Ghitu Slinger (Echo sucks, but otherwise quite solid)
- Granite Gargoyle (!!! adds more evasion to the deck and is a very solid blocker in the mid- and lategame)
- Krark-Clan Grunt (random Grey Ogre that can eat Chrome Moxes for extra damage if necessary, can kill threshholded mongeese!)

[jamest]

Nice deck guys. I did some quick testing against Goblins (6 games preboard) and it feels about 50/50. Far and away, your most important card in that matchup is Rolling Earthquake. It allows you to survive into the midgame and shuts off Incinerator. Without it, Goblins is stronger in nearly every way. They have superior speed, removal (creature and artifact), draw engine, and they have mana denial which cripples this deck.

Also, Pit Dragon is a badass. Absolutely sick damage potential.

[Dr.ugs]

I would just like to add that I think that none of the 5 million suggestions on Cyclops Slot were better than Cyclops himself.


I am also testing this Deck with the only difference that I made some room for some more Disruption (aka Trinisphere,Stone Rain instead of Pillar and some other Cards and Avalanche Rider).


@Phantom and Taoscope: Whats your opinion on thoose Cards and did you test a more disruptive version

[Phantom]

Nice deck guys. I did some quick testing against Goblins (6 games preboard) and it feels about 50/50.

If you're only going 50/50 with Goblins preboard, then you need to do some more testing. This deck wrecks Goblins at least 70/30 (and that was a version running multiple Holligans). Also, the MVP of this matchup isn't Quake (although it's fantastic) it's Razormane. Thanks for testing out the deck and good luck with it!

Some more ideas for the debated Cyclops slot:

We've pretty much reviewed all the ideas for the Cyclops spot and come to the conclusion that Cyclops is the best. Thanks for the reply though.

As for Slogger, I'm running 1.

Done and done.

I am also testing this Deck with the only difference that I made some room for some more Disruption (aka Trinisphere,Stone Rain instead of Pillar and some other Cards and Avalanche Rider).


@Phantom and Taoscope: Whats your opinion on those Cards and did you test a more disruptive version

We once had a list of 4 disruption cards for 2 spots. Chalice, Pillar, 3sphere, and Ankh. We did some testing and decided that Chalice and Pillar were the way to go. 3sphere is a quality card, but it really needs a deck built around it. It will force you to start replacing good cards with crappy ones like Stone Rain and Avalanche Riders and you would certainly have to fuck with the manabase to fit in Wasteland. Worth it? I think not. Also note that all of those cards are complete shit vs. Goblins.

@ Browbeat: It's a bad idea, but don't feel bad about the suggestion. It was one of my first suggestions too. If you pick up the deck and play a little, you'll realize it has no place here (extra bad synergy with Pillar). There might be a more burnish version of this deck out there with Ankh instead of Chalice, and a bunch of haste creatures, but I'm pretty sure it would be poor.

[Alfred]

If you're only going 50/50 with Goblins preboard, then you need to do some more testing. This deck wrecks Goblins at least 70/30 (and that was a version running multiple Holligans). Also, the MVP of this matchup isn't Quake (although it's fantastic) it's Razormane. Thanks for testing out the deck and good luck with it!

Why do you feel that Razormane Masticore + Squee is better than Arc-Slogger?

EDIT:

As for Slogger, I'm running 1. I got talked into it by having too many triple Razormane draws. Props to whoever suggested it. But one and no more. I don't think I like less than 4 Kavus, so I cut back to 3 Razormanes and added one Slogger. The lone Slogger here would sort of be in for the same reason Red Death has that single Wretched Anurid. Sometimes 4 of a drawback creature is just a little too much.

Note that if you only draw one, Razormane >>> Slogger almost constantly, the exception being if your opponent's holding, say, Disenchant. Razormane will win more battles for you by randomly picking off Silver Knight than he will lose to Disenchant, though.

So now you are running 3 Squees for 3 Razormane Masticores? Hmmm... It seems like you risk drawing into Squees without the Masticores, which is probably bad news for you.

Also, are Silver Knights the only reason that Razormane is better than Slogger? Because I have found that against both Threshold and Goblins that Slogger's ability is much more useful than RM's one, and the extra 1 point of Power and First Strike were pretty meaningless. The ability to remove a Werebear or multiple goblins in a single turn seems a bit better to me.

[Phantom]

Why do you feel that Razormane Masticore + Squee is better than Arc-Slogger?

I assume you're talking about the Goblins matchup. Really, Squee isn't even needed but it certainly is nice. They are both great cards vs Goblins but there are a few reasons I like Razormane better here:

1) Thanks to Ringleader, Goblins can swarm and swarm and keep swarming. Sloggers ability can realistically only be used to kill 4 Goblins which isn't always going to stop them or put them on the defensive (especially vs. multiple Vials). Razormane's ability is unlimited.

2) Slogger can be killed by gang blocking. This is especially relevant since Goblins can Vial in a blocker when your red mana is tapped out.

3) Slogger's ability eats mana (note that this was the reason we cut Masticore for Razormane) occasionally preventing us from casting other spells. Very frustrating with Jitte.

4) Slogger can be needled. This is probably cancelled out by the fact that Razormane can be Disenchanted.


Still, I'm not discounting Slogger completely and now I'll be playing with one mainboard and will be better able to evaluate all the pros and cons.

[Alfred]

I assume you're talking about the Goblins matchup. Really, Squee isn't even needed but it certainly is nice. They are both great cards vs Goblins but there are a few reasons I like Razormane better here:

1) Thanks to Ringleader, Goblins can swarm and swarm and keep swarming. Sloggers ability can realistically only be used to kill 4 Goblins which isn't always going to stop them or put them on the defensive (especially vs. multiple Vials). Razormane's ability is unlimited.

2) Slogger can be killed by gang blocking. This is especially relevant since Goblins can Vial in a blocker when your red mana is tapped out.

3) Slogger's ability eats mana (note that this was the reason we cut Masticore for Razormane) occasionally preventing us from casting other spells. Very frustrating with Jitte.

4) Slogger can be needled. This is probably cancelled out by the fact that Razormane can be Disenchanted.


Still, I'm not discounting Slogger completely and now I'll be playing with one mainboard and will be better able to evaluate all the pros and cons.

Razormane Masticore requires you to run suboptimal cards in order for it to be good, otherwise, why even add Squees at all? Squees are almost completely useless, and a point for Slogger is the fact that you can squeeze (pun intended) even more disruption or threats into the deck than a version with Masticore.

Goblins can swarm and keep swarming, but if you can eliminate up to 4 goblins at once and swing in with Slogger, you're closer to winning the game. Also, Razormane Masticore can eliminate a single goblin the turn after it comes into play, where Big Slogs can demolish their entire board, which is useful if you're about to die.

Also, Slogger can't be killed by gang blocking, because their blockers will be dead before you swing in, the only surprise that could conceivably kill a Slogger is when you have totally tapped your red out, and they have a vial set to 5.

Also, Jitte's equip ability costs 2 colorless, which means that you can use 8 of your colorless-only lands to equip it, and save the rest for Slogging.

Lastly, though RM has the extra point of Power, Arc-Slogger can actually end the game faster than RM, and usually does so at the same speed, i.e. they are at 18, you attack 4 times and Slog once. Or, they are at 20, attack 3 times and Slog 4 times where it's actually faster.

As I said before, I tested both, and I found that Arc-Slogger is way better against the current metagame than RM. I'm going to be testing this list to see if it's any different, which I don't really expect it to be.

[Phantom]

Goblins can swarm and keep swarming, but if you can eliminate up to 4 goblins at once and swing in with Slogger, you're closer to winning the game. Also, Razormane Masticore can eliminate a single goblin the turn after it comes into play, where Big Slogs can demolish their entire board, which is useful if you're about to die.

See this is where it's useful to talk about this particular deck as opposed to Slogger vs. Razormane in general. We can hardly ever eliminate 4 Goblins at once. We'll be lucky to eliminate 2 Goblins at once. This deck runs 14 red sources and often has trouble getting to 2 red sorces.

Also, Slogger can't be killed by gang blocking, because their blockers will be dead before you swing in, the only surprise that could conceivably kill a Slogger is when you have totally tapped your red out, and they have a vial set to 5.

They have 4 Goblins and a Vial out, we have one or two red sources. There's a good chance Slogger can go down if blocked by the 2-3 remaining Goblins and a Vialed in green man. And if you choose not to attack, you're just playing into their hands.

Also, Jitte's equip ability costs 2 colorless, which means that you can use 8 of your colorless-only lands to equip it, and save the rest for Slogging.

I was talking about playing and equipping a Jitte. If this is slowed down even one turn it can be very frustrating.

Lastly, though RM has the extra point of Power, Arc-Slogger can actually end the game faster than RM, and usually does so at the same speed, i.e. they are at 18, you attack 4 times and Slog once. Or, they are at 20, attack 3 times and Slog 4 times where it's actually faster.

This is actually where I really like Slogger (vs. Combo). Combined with the nastyness that is Seething Song.

As I said before, I tested both, and I found that Arc-Slogger is way better against the current metagame than RM. I'm going to be testing this list to see if it's any different

Glad to hear it. Try a 2/2 Slogger/Razormane split and test against Tier 1. I'm sure you won't be dissapointed. Also, notice the awesomeness that is Squee in this deck.

[jamest]

If you're only going 50/50 with Goblins preboard, then you need to do some more testing. This deck wrecks Goblins at least 70/30 (and that was a version running multiple Holligans). Also, the MVP of this matchup isn't Quake (although it's fantastic) it's Razormane. Thanks for testing out the deck and good luck with it!

Razormane without Quake is dead meat. My Goblin build runs 13 maindeck ways to kill Razormane (4 Hooligan, 1 Tinkerer, 4 Incinerator, 4 Matron) and that's before considering what Ringleader draws into.

[Alfred]

See this is where it's useful to talk about this particular deck as opposed to Slogger vs. Razormane in general. We can hardly ever eliminate 4 Goblins at once. We'll be lucky to eliminate 2 Goblins at once. This deck runs 14 red sources and often has trouble getting to 2 red sorces.

With 14 red sources, 2 red mana should not be a problem to get to by turn 3 or 4, which should be just fine for Slogger. Also, isn't eliminating 2 goblins a turn better than eliminating 1 goblin a turn? Especially when you note that you aren't losing a card a turn against a deck you want to be blocking.

[Tacosnape]

So now you are running 3 Squees for 3 Razormane Masticores? Hmmm... It seems like you risk drawing into Squees without the Masticores, which is probably bad news for you.

No, I'm running 2 Squees for 3 Razormane Masticores. There's a difference. I run the fourth Kavu over the third Squee.

You also seem to be completely incapable of grasping the fact that Squee is not a useless card outside of Razormane Masticore. He's an overpriced 1/1, but he comes back. He'll power that topdecked Chrome Mox if you need to get a big guy out. He'll pick up a Jitte. He'll chumpblock a Werebear/Mongoose until you draw a solution. He'll come back against removal when you're a threat away.

If you're still worried about Squee being utterly useless, try squeaking two copies of Fling into this deck. I've had a lot of luck with it in random testing. It can throw Squee, throw a Razormane you can't pay for, throw a Cyclops into something enormous that it couldn't quite take down, and throw a creature your Kavu's trigger targets when your opponent doesn't have any creatures. I'm not sure I'm ready to recommend it for the decklist yet, but I'm having fun with it.

Razormane without Quake is dead meat. My Goblin build runs 13 maindeck ways to kill Razormane (4 Hooligan, 1 Tinkerer, 4 Incinerator, 4 Matron) and that's before considering what Ringleader draws into.

This makes you a very unique goblin deck, as most don't run five artifact-killing goblins. Most run about two. Furthermore, Tinkerer doesn't count. Tinkerer is the most garbage card in existence and unless you keep a warchief alive against this deck, it won't kill Razormane before Razormane kills it. Against Goblins is really where I like Pyroclasm over Rolling Earthquake, as it makes Goblins all the more of an autowin. Pyroclasm allows you to still win on a slow opening. But Quake is better against almost everything else and Phantom talked me into running it.

Also, you'll rarely kill a Razormane with an Incinerator. Razormanes tend to come down on turn 2-3, and you can't get five goblins down that fast, and you'll struggle to get four and a fanatic.

Slogger is worse than Razormane against goblins, also. Slogger can't usually block a Piledriver the turn after it comes out and live. Razormane can. Razormane also doesn't tie up your mana where Slogger does.

[Alfred]

No, I'm running 2 Squees for 3 Razormane Masticores. There's a difference. I run the fourth Kavu over the third Squee.

You also seem to be completely incapable of grasping the fact that Squee is not a useless card outside of Razormane Masticore. He's an overpriced 1/1, but he comes back. He'll power that topdecked Chrome Mox if you need to get a big guy out. He'll pick up a Jitte. He'll chumpblock a Werebear/Mongoose until you draw a solution. He'll come back against removal when you're a threat away.

The only thing that I see Squee doing other than making Razormane Masticore better is it's ability to pick up a Jitte, which is true for any other creature. If you're talking about coming back against Werebear or Mongoose, I think the better option would be to run a creature in it's spot that just flat-out beats those creatures, rather than running a glorified chump blocker.

If you're still worried about Squee being utterly useless, try squeaking two copies of Fling into this deck. I've had a lot of luck with it in random testing. It can throw Squee, throw a Razormane you can't pay for, throw a Cyclops into something enormous that it couldn't quite take down, and throw a creature your Kavu's trigger targets when your opponent doesn't have any creatures. I'm not sure I'm ready to recommend it for the decklist yet, but I'm having fun with it.

I'm pretty sure that the best recommendation for running Slogger over Razormane Masticore is it's application in other formats. Look at Extended, Standard and Block, where they were both legal. Slogger has been used above Masticore, essentially any deck that had access to red mana has used Slogger over Masticore, and I definately think that 14 red sources is enough to support Slogger comfortably.

[Eldariel]

Mmm, I was playing against Smart Goblins with very disappointing results. StP is huge (no, I didn't manage a Chalice) as the deck usually only gets a fatto or two. I got 2-0d in short order, first game by losing my turn 2 Arc-Slogger to StP and drawing no creatures other than Squee (no Jitte), Rolling Earthquake his double Warchief to prevent them from doing me in only to get only to get overrun by a Matron into Ringleader into SGC-sequence. Game 2 I drop a turn 1 Chalice, but he Wastelands and I can't drop my Razormane before off 2 Tombs and he alphas me by Matron-Piledriver-Piledriver with Chief in play. Now, this seems really annoying to me, the expensive creatures are really tough to cast without Songs and the Tomb-damage adds up. Also, Pillar is frustrating. I'll of course play more games, but that was pretty disheartening.

Another game, against BGW Control of some sort, I got destroyed. Duresses kept me off explosive early plays and then Sinkholes, Vindicates and Hymns kept me off any plays at all with my Rakdos Pit Dragon eating Swords (Flametongue Kavu was mocking me in my hand all game, but the time he started casting Witnesses and Confidants, I was handless and my only permanent was a Jitte that I had managed to cast). Game 2 was going well until my board got Deeded (3-drop, Jitte, Mox, Chalice and Tomb). I really think the deck needs more creatures at the 3-mana slot and the SB definately wants Needle or something to handle Deeds (I really miss FoWs and Needles of FS when playing this) and something like Dodecapod to not get annihilated by discard. I'd really want some more 3-drops with actual butt in the MD too, the 5-drop count is insanely high and they're just as hard to cast as Meloku used to be in FS (hence why it got dropped even though it's completely and utterly nuts). Also, the 4-drops seem to be a bit hard to cast as multiple Tombs and Cities don't contribute, and they pretty much force me to hold my Cities back until I can drop 2 Mountains. The list I was testing was the one on the first page although I used Chimeric Idol in the Bloodrock Cyclops spot, but that should hardly be relevant to the results as the Idol got killed by StPs and Deeds when I got 'em off.

Oh, I did beat manascrewed Counterslivers. I will admit small sample size though, so perhaps I've just gotten unlucky. Still, I think the curve is pretty off :/


EDIT: Would either of you care to run some testing with me on Goblins? I don't know how, but maybe I'm piloting the deck wrong or something, I'd want to see how you play it.

[smeagol]

To address the Razormane // Slogger debate:
Honestly, which deck really plays that much Artifact Hate at the moment?

- Threshhold? nope
- Goblins? hmm... some Tin Street Boys maybe
- Landstill? well... if you count Nevi Disk
- Deadguy? yeah Vindicate... but that also hits non artifact creatures
- Solidarity? good joke...

Therefore I think the whole argument about being an Artifact creature or not is mostly void. Thus you can see Masticore as a "discard a card" drawback creature, which is absolutely fine for what it does (btw.: has the original Masticore even be considered for the deck?). The 2/2 or 3/1 setup of RM and Slogger seems fine. I wouldn't cut the Masticore, the First Strike simply is huge, not even a thresholded Mystic Enforcer can block it (after you have shot him obviously)... nevermind Goblins having a lot of trouble getting rid of it, when they don't have access to the Tin Street dudes.

@ Eldariels playtesting: Guess Goblins still get the nuts draw. ;) Nevermind, the deck seems strong enough though to beat Goblins on a regular basis, especially if the sideboard packs more cheap Creature Hate (i.e. Pyroclasm).
As for the other Matchups: yeah, BGW preboard eats Dragon Stompy for breakfast. The only way to beat it is probably to disrupt its very fragile manabase via Blood Moon.


Some more thoughts:
- How necessary are the City of Traitors? I know, a 2 mana land is huge for explosive starts, but lacking the power of Sea Drake, that had nice synergy with the City, makes me wonder if there aren't better options (maybe these are the Slots to be turned into Wastelands?).
- Maindeck Pillar? Seems a lot like a win more card to me outside the combo matchup. At least it does very little if you're behind in board position.
- 4 FTK seem a lot, considering they are often dead in your hand (shooting Mongeese is no option... and versus Landstill//Solidarity//other creatureless decks they do absolutely nothing). I know it's hard to cut any of them, but maybe this is the way to go?
- I really liked the idea of combining Squee with Goblin Lore, maybe some Fiery Tempers could be a nice addition (also good synergy with Masticore discard), giving the deck some more reach.


I'm really interested in developing this deck, as I always liked the Big Red decks of Mirrodin Block times. Thanks for reviving this idea for Legacy. :D

[Phantom]

Mmm, I was playing against Smart Goblins with very disappointing results. StP is huge (no, I didn't manage a Chalice) as the deck usually only gets a fatto or two. I got 2-0d in short order, first game by losing my turn 2 Arc-Slogger to StP and drawing no creatures other than Squee (no Jitte), Rolling Earthquake his double Warchief to prevent them from doing me in only to get only to get overrun by a Matron into Ringleader into SGC-sequence. Game 2 I drop a turn 1 Chalice, but he Wastelands and I can't drop my Razormane before off 2 Tombs and he alphas me by Matron-Piledriver-Piledriver with Chief in play. Now, this seems really annoying to me, the expensive creatures are really tough to cast without Songs and the Tomb-damage adds up. Also, Pillar is frustrating. I'll of course play more games, but that was pretty disheartening.

Yeah, that is strange. I actually haven't tested vs the White splash as much. I tested vs. mono red because that was the most popular at the time, and vs. the green splash because I thought that would be our worst matchup (tutorable Disenchants > Disenchants). I had great results against the green splash boarding in Blood Moon as well as Smash. I assume it will work great vs. the White Splash as well seeing as it completely cuts the off from Disenchant and StP.

I will try to do some more testing vs. the white splash as it seems to be the most popular build these days.

As for the control matchup, it's not suprising at all. You pretty much have to hope that Blood Moon or Chalice destroys their deck. Against GBW, Chalice @ 3 can be killer, but is often tough to get to.

(btw.: has the original Masticore even be considered for the deck?).

My original build ran 4 of both masticores and 4 Squees. It was a little too much and the original Masticores were too mana intensive.

- How necessary are the City of Traitors? I know, a 2 mana land is huge for explosive starts, but lacking the power of Sea Drake, that had nice synergy with the City, makes me wonder if there aren't better options (maybe these are the Slots to be turned into Wastelands?).
- Maindeck Pillar? Seems a lot like a win more card to me outside the combo matchup. At least it does very little if you're behind in board position.
- 4 FTK seem a lot, considering they are often dead in your hand (shooting Mongeese is no option... and versus Landstill//Solidarity//other creatureless decks they do absolutely nothing). I know it's hard to cut any of them, but maybe this is the way to go?
- I really liked the idea of combining Squee with Goblin Lore, maybe some Fiery Tempers could be a nice addition (also good synergy with Masticore discard), giving the deck some more reach.

@ City - Very necessary. I usually prefer them to Tombs even though they're often a tad slower (have to lay a mountain first)
@ Maindeck Pillar - It actually started in the board, but made it to the maindeck. It is aminly there for combo, but it does hurt every deck to some degree, and screws over 2/3 of the tier one decks. Basically, it's sort of a "this deck already beats down aggro, let's get some slots that improve other matchups". You find a card that's better in the slot, let us know, but I'm still loving Pillar. Hell, it's even won some goblin games for me when they didn't draw Vial.
@ 4FtK - I was on board with you till I cut down to three. I missed the spot removal and am back up to four. Luckily, it's not completely dead against non combo decks. You can target anything with an active Jitte on it, Razormanes, or lowly Squees.
@ Lore/Temper - I really don't like Fiery Temper (why do I need removal when I have a Razormane out?) but I'll admit it has synergy here. I've never tested Goblin Lore, but I'm not crazy about the randomness or the lack of card advantage (We only run 2 Squee's, and they often get pitched to Mox).


Thanks for all the feedback everyone!

[Alfred]

To address the Razormane // Slogger debate:
Honestly, which deck really plays that much Artifact Hate at the moment?

- Threshhold? nope
- Goblins? hmm... some Tin Street Boys maybe
- Landstill? well... if you count Nevi Disk
- Deadguy? yeah Vindicate... but that also hits non artifact creatures
- Solidarity? good joke...

Therefore I think the whole argument about being an Artifact creature or not is mostly void. Thus you can see Masticore as a "discard a card" drawback creature, which is absolutely fine for what it does (btw.: has the original Masticore even be considered for the deck?). The 2/2 or 3/1 setup of RM and Slogger seems fine. I wouldn't cut the Masticore, the First Strike simply is huge, not even a thresholded Mystic Enforcer can block it (after you have shot him obviously)... nevermind Goblins having a lot of trouble getting rid of it, when they don't have access to the Tin Street dudes.

You may think that Masticore's discard downside is "just fine", but it obviously is a negative when comparing two cards. Also, Mystic Enforcer will die before it even has the chance to block a Arc-Slogger. And I don't think that the Artifact hate point is that fair, and even so, Goblins usually runs a tutorable artifact killing goblin, and Threshold runs Naturalize/Disenchant out of the board, so it's not as irrelevant as you might think.

I'm also thinking that First Strike isn't as great as you think it is. Sure, it's good in double-blocking scenarios, but so is the ability to kill essentially every targetted creature before they have the ability to do so! Arc-Slogger is a frigging BOMB. That was what Big Red in Standard and Extended were all about. If you could get it into play early, it absolutely fucks aggressive and control opponents up. It's a 3 turn clock that clears chump blockers out of the way while you hit them in the head for only 5 mana. I don't think it's a coincidence that every red deck in any other constructed format picks Arc-Slogger over and above Razormane Masticore.

The only reason I could see running RM over Slogger is when there is something good to be gained from discarding cards, or if you can't run red mana.

I also just realized that DISCARD can kill your Razormane Masticore, so add that to the list of reasons why Slogger is better. Running 2 Squees doesn't shore that up enough for my tastes. And when a fucking Hymn to Tourach turns into a Ancestral Recall, I really think that Arc Slogger is just better in almost every concievable way.

[Phantom]

Did that testing against White Splash Goblins. Was a tad worried because at one point I was 3-3, but ended up 10-4.

Game 1: Mana Screw.
0-1
Game 2: Early Cyclops puts on a nice clock. Then Song into Slogger finishes it (only had one red source though).
1-1
Game 3: Lackey -> SGC.
1-2
Game 4: Quake early. Razormane + Jitte late.
2-2
Game 5: Double striking Dragon with a Jitte on.
3-2
Game 6: Mana flood and only drew one threat. Gah.
3-3
Game 7: Lead with Chalice @1. Then drop Razormane turn 3 (again, I had only one red source).
4-3
Game 8: 3 FtK's.
5-3
Game 9: Cyclops + Dragon + 2 Quakes.
6-3
Game 10: Razormane + Quake (this was the one game when I wish it was Slogger as I had 2 and would like to have pitched one to mox).
7-3
Game 11: Slogger almost loses this one for me thanks to it's limit (I remove 40 cards and the Goblins keep on coming) but a Dragon comes and saves the day.
8-3
Game 12: I drop a Cyclops which gets Gemplamed and my City gets wasted. I never see another land.
8-4
Game 13: I pull off the elusive turn 2 win. Sweet Jesus does it feel sweet!
9-4
Game 14: Tough game where he somehow draws 3 StP. Squee was amazing here blocking Goblins left and right with a Jitte on. Finally, a Quake comes and a 5/5 Squee starts a-swingin'.
10-4

Sadly I had to quit before we got in the full 20, but I feel a lot better about the Rw Goblins match now.

[Eldariel]

I just barely pulled another game out of goblins, but only because he didn't know the fact that Fanatic>Jitte. I was at 1 life (third game of the match) and his topcard was SGC with Vial at 5 and 8 lands in play, so I was positively 1 turn away from dying too. Did the list MD StP or Disenchant? That probably makes a difference, I'd assume.

[jamest]

Six more test games.

G1: gain control with early quake and razormane. goblins at 4 life, ringleader into hooligan, and goblins wins next turn with warchief, matron for piledriver, incinerate dragon.
0-1
G2: close race. goblins must simply overextend into possible quakes when this deck has board position. incinerators take out dragon and the rest of the goblin army overwhelms kavu.
0-2
G3: bait overextension with quake while stuck on 4 mana with razormanes in hand. sweep when goblins has ringleader driver matron out, but tomb is wastelanded. next turn warchief. cyclops. driver hooligan, cyclops chumps driver, wastelands city.
0-3
G4: hooligan on razormane. kavus make poor blockers or attackers.
0-4
G5: early double cyclops holds off lackey. quake followed by dragon ends it.
1-4
G6: mull to 5. hmm razormane or kavu first? I go with razormane. gets goblins down to 5, when goblins rips a green source with 3 hooligans in hand. squee is a good chumper blocker in the meantime. rip razormane, but there are enough goblins for incinerator.
1-5

Hooligan is house in this matchup with so many key targets i.e. Mox, Chalice, Razormane, Jitte.